Court and Residence in the Late Medieval German Empire (1200-1600)

Why did no dominant capital city emerge in the late medieval Holy Roman Empire, as was the case in England and France? Why, instead, did the Empire have numerous centres of power? These were among the questions posed by the Göttingen regional historian Hans Patze. They inspired the establishment of the Residenzen-Kommission (Residences Commission) in 1985, which has since been dedicated to studying the residences and courts of the Holy Roman Empire between 1200 and 1600, comparing them with those in other European countries. The federal structure of Germany is explored here at one of its roots: the emergence of territorial lordly residences, which were closely linked to the growth of the courts.

Closely connected to this are cultural, social, and economic historical questions concerning everyday life, ceremonies, court regulations, women’s roles, education and upbringing, courtly economics, and more. The results are published, among other places, in the series Residenzenforschung (Research on Residences). Furthermore, the commission collects German court regulations and, as an additional source, European travel reports from the period, publishing these in the form of analytical bibliographies.

For security reasons, the website of the Academy project Höfe und Residenzen im spätmittelalterlichen Reich (Courts and Residences in the Late Medieval Empire, 1998–2011) was shut down in 2019. The Mitteilungen der Residenzen-Kommission (Communications of the Residences Commission, 1990–2012, including special issues) have been available since 2020 via the ‘res doctae’ document server. The online version of the eponymous handbook in four volumes has been accessible here.

Digital Handbook on Courts and Residences in the Late Medieval Empire